Automobile hood lock



Se t. 2, 1930. c. w. ALEXANDER ET AL 1,774,625

AUTOMOBILE HOOD LOCK Filed Au 30, 1928 Fig. 1.

Fig.2.

- z Enventr Fig. 4. -C.W.Alexander 8g W.E.Alexander M flja mm Patented Sept. 2, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE oIiAnENcE w. ALEXANDER Ann WILLIAM E. ALEXANDER, or OMAHA, NEBRASKA AUTOMOBILE HOOD LOCK Applicationfile'd August 30, 1928. Serial No. 303,018.

This invention relates to a means for lockingthe hoods of automobiles, and has for its object, broadly, to provide a locking means under control of the driver or occupant of the automobile whereby one or both doors of the hood may be convenimtlylocked or unlocked to prevent or permit access to the engine and parts mounted thereon.

One of the specific objects of the invention is to prevent theft of the yaluable accessories of the engine and other parts beneath the hood; 7

Another object is to dispense with the use of the spring catches generally employed as a fastening means, and thereby to avoid the noise and vibration usually caused by said fastening means.

Another object is to substitute a slidable locking-bar for each pair of spring catches now generally used on each door of a hood so that the doors maybe more conveniently and readily released from their fastenings than usual.

Still another object is to provide a locking device consisting of few and simple parts so that it may be produced at a very limited expense.

One of the objects is to provide a locking means for the doors which will be located interiorly of the hood so that, when the doors are closed, said locking means will not be visible, and thereby improving the external appearance of the hood.

The invention includes a locking means of such construction that dust will be practically excluded from beneath the hood, and that a stop-member will be provided for the lower edges of the doors for resisting stresses directed to the doors.

\Vith the above named objects in view and others to be mentioned herein the invention presents a new and useful construction, combination and arrangement of parts as described herein and claimed and as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, it being understood that changes may be made in form, size, proportion of parts and minor details, said changes being within the scope of the invention as claimed.

In the drawing ig. 1 is a. broken away an automobile or other motor vehicleand in connection with the hood 8 of the engine (not shown), the wings for the hood being indicated at 9.

In order that the objects may be attained as first mentioned we provide a locking-bar 10 provided with hooks 11, slots 12, a handle 13 and an aperture 14.

Numerals 15 indicate keepers or guides preferably having the form of rivets, each being disposed in a slot 12 of a locking-bar and mounted in a base-strip 7, each guide 15 having a length equal to the combined thickness of a base-strip and locking-bar and provided with a head 02 having a greater diameterthan the width of a slot 12, and as described, each locking-bar, by use of its handle, may have sliding movements forwardly or rearwardly, the keepers or guides 15 being disposed in the slots 12 of said bars and the heads a: engaging the upper surfaces of said bars, the parts being of such proportion that the locking-bars may have free sliding movements, the length of said movements depending upon the length of the slots 12, and the heads :0 of the keepers or guides 15 operating to maintain the lockingbars in engagement with the base-strips 7.

Any suitable means may be provided tending to prevent any longitudinal movements of the locking-bars after these bars, or either of them, have been moved to locked or unlocked position, the means shown for this purpose being springs 17 each secured to a stationary support, the. opposite end of each spring being secured to the end of a locking bar, and by operation of these springs a rear- Fig. 2 is a view of the hood in ward sliding movement for each locking-bar will be resisted.

Numerals 18 indicate projections formed in the base-strips 7, and when the locking-bar has been moved rearwardly these projections will engage in the apertures 14. \Vhen it is desired to move the bars 10 forwardly to locked position, their rear ends may be swung upwardly sufiicient to release them from the projections and, by operation of the springs 17 said bars will slide'forwardly to locked position.

Numerals 19 indicate eye-bolts or loops which are disposed at the inner sides of the doors 9, these loops co-operating with the hooks 11 as a locking means, the proportion of parts being such that the hooks will enter the loops when the bars 10 are moved forwardly.

It will be noted=that each hook has an upwardly curved end-portion, and when the parts are disposed as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing the doors 9 will be pressed downwardly'and inwardly into engagement with the base-strips 7 and into abutting position with the outer edges of the rectilinear locking-bars 10, whereby the locking-bars operate as stop-members and on account of the construction as mentioned undue vibration will be prevented, a strong support for the doors will be provided, and dust will be excluded.

The fact that the locking-bars extend rearwardly within the body of an automobile is an important feature for the reason that the operation of lockin and unlocking the doors of the hood will, be under control of the driver or other occupant, and in instances where the device is used upon closed automobiles the doors of which may be locked to prevent access, the locking-bars 10 and parts as described will be effective in preventing access to the hood. Having fully described construction, operation will be readily understood. The driver of an automobile may unlock one or both doors of the hood by manual use of one or both handles 13, the bar or bars 10 being moved rearwardly against the force of the spring or springs 17, the hooks 11 moving outwardly from the loops 19, the projections 18 engaging in the apertures 14; for maintaining the locking-bars in their rearwardly or unlocked position. In order to efiiect a locking of a door 9 the driver moves the rear end of a locking-bar upwardly to release it from a detent or projection 18 and by operation of a spring 17 the locking-bar will move forwardly, its hooks engaging in the loops 19, said spring normally preventing any disengagement of the hooks from the loops.

While we have described specific slideways for the pair of locking-bars 10, consisting of anchor-pins or keepers 15 stationary with the automobile and which engage in slots 12 of the locking-bars, we do not wish to limit ourselves to this exact mounting for said bars, and we may use any mounting for these bars which will permit them to slide on the stationary base-strips 7 beneath the hood and which will prevent disengagement of said bars from the base-strips.

We claim as our invention,

An automobile hood .latch comprising a pair of eye pieces adapted for permanent attachment to the inner side of the hood and disposed in longitudinal axial alinement, a slide bar adapted to be mounted upon the vehicle body at the inner side of the hood beneath said eye pieces and provided with hooks, one for each eye piece extending forwardly for engagement through the eye pieces when the slide bar is moved forwardly,

means for normally urging the slide bar into a forward position for maintaining the hood latched, a handle mounted on the rear end of the slide bar for manipulating the same, and cooperating means upon the slide bar and the vehicle for yieldingly holding the slide bar in retracted position and maintain the hood unlatched.

In testimony whereof, we have affixed our signatures.

CLARENCE WV. ALEXANDER. WILLIAM E. ALEXANDER. 

